Give your clothes away!

Day 6 of the 20 Day Sustainable Fashion challenge is telling me to give my clothes away!...  something I enjoy doing because I've found some great local options.  Here's what I do with my unwanted items:

Sell - It takes a bit of work but a good reminder to only buy things I really love and will last a long time!
* eBay - If it's like new and a popular name brand I'll list it.  I tend to save a big pile and do a few every day for a month or so to keep a good assortment and offer shipping discounts on multiple items.

Trade In - This is my favorite option!  I have a few places I rotate among in my area.
* Lela's - This great 3rd Ward boutique takes seasonally appropriate gently used apparel!  You set up a consignor account, bring in your items on Tuesday (or by appointment on another day).  They are particular on what they take but what I love is when your item sells it goes onto your account so when I come in to drop stuff off I usually have a credit waiting for me to shop away with!  The store has a great selection of resale items, new small designer labels and some local items. 
* Swanky Seconds - I've only shopped this great resale spot but the ladies were so great I plan to bring a few bags here from this last clean out.
Any other suggestions for places I should check out in the MKE area?! 

Donate - For the random items or off brands that I can't find a trade for I donate for those much need tax deductions!
* Easter Seals - I have a regular pick up from this local charity that takes both clothing and household items.  What I like about it is I don't have to go anywhere.  I just box it up and they take it away!
* Free the Girls - My favorite yoga studio, Core Essence is a drop off location for this great charity that collects bras.

Recycle - This is a topic I've but a lot of research into and have found some great options.
* Milwaukee Textile Recycling - They have bins all around the city for you to drop bags of clothing items into.  They have several channels of processing items.  For large amounts of items, they will do a pick up.
* City of Milwaukee Shoe Recycling Program - Used shoes (excluding high heels) are accepted at several locations around the city.
* Blue Jeans go Green - This is my favorite recycling program!  Take your jeans to the retailers listed on this site and you can trade them in for a discount on new jeans.  They send the jeans to a converter in Arizona that turns them into insulation that is donated for use in Habitat for Humanity homes. 
* H&M - Another one I love is taking my worn out clothes to H&M to trade in for a discount coupon.  They have several methods of processing their collections with any profits going into research on textile recycling options.

I hope this information helps make it a little easier to find ways to reuse clothing items!

Textile waste facts from Karian Kallio, Fashion Institute of Technology June 2014